It’s a Disney Family Moon! Time for this Blended Family to Share Some Magic

[scooby9932]

Well, folks, as some of you may have read before, I got married back in November to a most wonderful man, my darling husband, Ed. He has not only accepted my love of all things Disney, he has whole heartedly embraced them, too! Did I get lucky or what? My very own Prince Charming. As he says, I’ve pulled him over to the “Sparkly Side.” I say, “Welcome. We have Mickey Head Ice Cream here!”

After nearly 22 years single, this being married again thing is a magical ride all in itself. I can’t believe how happy I am knowing I have someone by my side no matter what, who loves & supports me in all things, and whom I can share the wonderful magic of Disney with.

So, enough with the ooey-gooey newlywed talk, you say? Ok, fine. I wouldn’t want to make anyone nauseous! Lol

On to our Disney Family Moon!:

So, now for the who, the why, the when & where:

Who?

Me: My name is Dawn. I am a 41 year old dis-nerd. I love all things Disney, but especially the feeling you get when you first arrive. That feeling that life’s problems (big & small) become less important somehow. The magic takes over, and the day-to-day stresses just float away on a Dole Whip scented breeze of Disney magic. Ah…my happy place. I have traveled to Disney many times, but there is still so much I haven’t yet done and so much that I can’t wait to share with DH. Speaking of whom…

DH: Ed, a big, burly guy with a heart of gold. He’s tough on the outside, but has a warm, mushy center. DH, who is 47, took one trip back in 1978 to the Magic Kingdom for one day. Waaaay back when they still had E-tickets. And he didn’t ride that many rides. He has a vague memory of Space Mountain, 20,000 Leagues and Dumbo and a terrible encounter with IASM where their boat got stuck for 45 minutes, effectively ruining that ride (and song) for him for life. He can’t recall much else other than it was beastly hot. They went in July. He can’t wait to try out all the things I’ve been showing him. He’s most excited, I think, to see the 3 other parks since they didn’t even exist back then. But in my opinion, it’s pretty much like he has never even been to WDW before. I’m super, super excited to share all that is Disney with him. And I really think this will give my DD a chance to bond with her new step father. We live about 1.5 hours away from her now, so they really need this opportunity to form a bond and share some magical Disney memories.

DD: Somer, my beautiful 22 year old daughter, is excited as always to be going back to Disney this year. She’s a huge sucker for the magic too, plus she really loves our time together on vacation. She’s into all things sparkly, and pink. She loves Cinderella and the whole fairytale ending stuff. As I’ve said before, I think this trip will really work well in helping forge a bond with her stepdad. This blended family thing, with her being all grown up, has its unique challenges. Somer has always had it as just her & me - her whole life. Figuring out how to handle me being married and having a step father has been a challenge and I know she is still struggling with some of her feelings about everything. I’m hoping this trip will put her mind at ease and make her feel more a part of our family again.

Why?

For a combination of reasons:

#1 To celebrate our marriage! It’s a Disney Family Moon.

#2 To celebrate my beating cancer in May 2010! We will be there for the anniversary date. Our yearly Disney trips were my no-pain, no-worry zone for years, so it’s really special to me to be able to celebrate my victory in my happy place.

#3 To form bonds in our little blended family with my DD and my DH. They have not spent enough time together in a setting/situation that can form bonds like shared memories, laughter, tension, diplomacy, compromise, etc. that comes from a shared trip together. I expect there will be tense times, but I’m hoping the happy, magical feelings we get in Disney will override those and in the end provide a shared memory & bonds to build upon.

When?

May 13 – May 20, 2011 – Only 67 more days!

Where?

We’re booked at the Polynesian, Garden View Room. Woo Hoo! Fancy, schmancy deluxe when we’re used to Moderates. But everyone in our family has some type of mobility/stamina issue, so we need the convenience of the monorail & ferry for our ECVs. I think being able to hop back to the resort relatively easily will also help a great deal.

What’s to Eat?

We also splurged a bit this trip and booked the Quick Service dining plan. I’m hoping we can really utilize it this trip. In the past, it was just too much food and we were better off paying OOP for our meals. Now with a big, hungry man in the mix, we're going to step it up a bit.

I’ve also booked a couple of OOP TS meals:

Sat, 5/14 – 8:30 a.m. at Tusker House – we did this character breakfast last year and while I really don’t care one way or another about the characters, the breakfast buffet was truly outstanding! And I couldn’t get enough Jamba Juice. Yum!

Wed, 5/18 – 9:30 p.m. at O’Hana – I think DH will LOVE this place. What man wouldn’t love all you can eat skewers of meat? I can hear his stomach growling now!

Other:

Ed is surprising DD with a reservation of his own. He knows she likes to hang by the pool, but with all her myriad health issues can’t be in the sun much anymore. So, when digging around on Tikiman Steve’s site, he discovered the Private Cabana rentals available at the Poly. And he just had to reserve one! We’re booked for Saturday, May 14 from 3-7 p.m. After our AK morning, I’m sure we’ll be more than ready to kick back & relax by the pool in our uber cool cabana.

It’s posh, posh. Really, I’m going to be so spoiled from this trip, I don’t know what I’ll do with my bad self. For more information & to see for yourself why I’m feeling so posh, click here:

Poly Private Cabanas

That’s it for now. I’ve got my planning spreadsheets going overtime and will have much more to report soon.

Until then, aloha…

 

[sl_underwood]

 

[scooby9932]

So, here’s the rough draft itinerary so far…

We are driving down. We’ll be taking our new (to us) truck, a 4 door Ford F-150, and while the gas mileage won’t be as great, I’m thinking our comfort level will far surpass the old Hyundai where my husband makes that pained grunting noise while grumbling under his breath when entering & exiting the vehicle. He’s a big guy with a very bad back from an injury 3 years ago that left him partially paralyzed for 75 days and still has lots of trouble with pain & numbness in his hands, legs & feet. He needs a big, comfy vehicle for longer trips.

Thursday, May 12
Leave by 6:30 a.m. (or at least that’s what DH says will happen. We shall see…) and head toward Lake City, FL, where we will be spending our first night at the Comfort Suites in town.

Friday, May 13
Oooh, I just realized that we’ll be arriving in Disney on the ominous Friday the 13th! Good thing I don’t believe in that stuff. Good and bad can happen to people on any day, so I figure our chances are always around 50/50.

We’ll leave the hotel early after enjoying their breakfast buffet and head towards the Poly for an early check-in. Now, I know they don’t always have a room available. But I also know that it’s much more likely we’ll get the room location we want if we get there earlier in the day. I’m hoping for Tahiti or Rapa Nui so we’ll have ease of getting to the TTC. We’re crossing our fingers for a room like the one we had last time in Tahiti – 3rd floor corner. It was quiet, close to the TTC & the parking lot, and had it’s own beach.

We’ll check in if possible. Once we’ve picked up our ECV’s from bell services, we’ll head to our room to unpack, change & freshen up before heading over to the TTC to catch the monorail express to Epcot. Otherwise, we’ll just head on over without the freshening up, unpacking, etc. Today’s the last day we’ll be able to see the Flower & Garden Festival before it’s over, so while we usually start our vacation with MK, this time we’ll be switching things up a bit.

Saturday, May 14
Today is our AK day! We have an 8:20 a.m. ADR at Tusker House for Donald’s Breakfast, so we’ll wake up early & head out by 7 a.m. I can’t wait to enjoy some Jamba Juice. Yum!

We are thinking of driving over since the buses are such a pain when using an ECV and we’ll be using 2 of them this trip. We still have to work out the details on how we’re going to load them into the truck, but I’m sure DH has some kind of plan for a ramp or something.

Today’s the day that my DH has the Poly private cabana reserved for the afternoon, so we’ll be getting the rides & shows we want to see out of the way before heading back to the Poly for our 3 p.m. reservation. DD’s going to be SO excited. DH is so excited just thinking about surprising her with what we call the “fwa fwa fwa fancy” surprise. LOL

Sunday, May 15
Today is our sleep in a bit and then head to MK day. We’re amongst the crazies who love the evening EMH day here. It’s so much fun to practically walk onto rides in the evening. And since we know we’ll be going on a lot of the rides later in the evening, we can take our time just soaking in the magic that is Disney in MK.

Monday, May 16
This is our DHS/Epcot day. We will revisit Future World favorites in Epcot before heading over to DHS by boat. DH wants to go on ToT and RnRC! Woot! I haven’t ever ridden these before, so I’m super excited to have someone who will ride with me. Other than the Great Movie Ride and the Little Mermaid, DD & I don’t really care for DHS. Now with the addition of the 2 thrill rides to our DHS “menu” it might make it into a park we visit again.

Tuesday, May 17

Epcot World Showcase

DTD in the evening.

Wednesday, May 18
Revisit a Park – MK, Epcot or AK – depending on crowd level predictions & what we want to see again

Tonight we have a 9:30 p.m. ADR at O’Hana. I’m hoping we get a seat by the window with a view of the MK fireworks. I’m looking forward to the bread pudding I’ve heard so much about.

Thursday, May 19
Epcot World Showcase

Friday, May 20
Sadly, our check out day. We will check out & head towards home. If we can drive it straight through, that’s what we’ll do, otherwise it’s probably a night spent in the Pensacola area.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Dawn! I didn't know you had started this. I'm going back to read all the juicy details.

 

[scooby9932]

Dawn! I didn't know you had started this. I'm going back to read all the juicy details.

Hey, Lisa!! How have you been? I'm so glad to see someone post to this trip report, but doubly excited to have a dis-friend do so!

Sorry for the lack of activity. I've been super busy, but will be adding more over the weekend.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hi Dawn.

I can't remember if I was a just lurker on your PTR last year or if I actually posted now and again. If I recall correctly, you were heading to POR about the same time that I stayed there and I was hoping to catch a glimpse of you....and then your dates shifted. In the end I think we had a day overlap.


Nice to see you back on the boards. And congratulations - firstly for beating cancer and secondly - congrats on your marriage. From your avatar picture, you and DH look very happy together.